Patterson Cemetery District, Stanislaus County, CA
Submitted by Gale Stroud and Burta Herger 26 Aug 2007
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Deoliveira Bryan 031231 p1
Infant Dies in Crash on Ward Avenue; 2nd Fatality at Intersection this Month
A 4 month old baby from Crows Landing died Sunday evening after his mother?s sport-utility vehicle spun out in front
of an oncoming pickup truck just south of Patterson, causing a collision. Bryan Deoliveira, son of Crows Landing
residents Marcus and Raquel Deoliveira, was thrown out of the SUV at Elfers Road and Ward Avenue after the impact of
the accident caused his child seat to detach from its base. The baby landed in a dirt field west of Ward Avenue, according
to a California Highway Patrol report. "It?s very unusual," CHP spokesman Tom Killian said of the car seat?s
detachment. "We don?t know if there was a failure on the part of the device or if there was human error involved." CHP
officers now are investigating the cause of the seat?s separation, he said. Meanwhile, Raquel Deoliveira, 28, was moved
from the intensive care unit at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto on Monday evening, according to her brother, Arthur
Victoria. Doctors said she may be able to leave the hospital within the next two or three days, he said. Deoliveira, who
was taken to the hospital on Sunday via helicopter, suffered broken ribs and abrasions to the head and left shoulder,
according to CHP and Patterson Fire Department reports. She also had a brokers collar bone, punctured lung and injured
shoulder blade, Victoria said. The collision occurred while Deoliveira traveled southbound at an unknown speed on Ward
Avenue in her 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer at 5:45 p.m., according to a CHP report. Meanwhile Patterson resident Luis
Rey Espinoza, 52, drove his 2001 Dodge Dakota northbound on the same road at about 50 miles per hour just south of the
intersection; the report stated. The Trailblazer traveled too quickly to navigate the offset intersection of Ward Avenue and
Elfers Road and spun out of control, careening clockwise into the northbound lane, the report stated. Espinoza saw the
oncoming Trailblazer spinning out and stepped on the brakes to avoid an accident. However, his pickup collided with the
left side of the Trailblazer, causing Bryan to be ejected, the CHP report stated. Bryan actually remained in the car seat
after being thrown out of the vehicle, Victoria said. Though an autopsy has yet to be conducted, Victoria said Bryan was
not breathing at the time family members arrived. However, she also said Bryan did not appear to have too many visible
injuries, with the exception of a slightly swollen head. Victoria said. "It?s very, very hard," Victoria said. "This was Dad
and Mom?s first grandchild." The Elfers Road and Ward Avenue intersection, which contains an S-shaped curve along
Ward, was the site of another fatal accident a little more than two weeks ago. In that Dec. 15 incident, Patterson resident
Abrahani Arvizu, 24, drove his car into a wooden power pole on Ward Avenue, killing himself and his 29 year old
passenger Rita Ulloa, also of Patterson. Neither passenger was wearing a seat belt in that incident. CHP officers believe
Arvizu was drunk, and they said Ulloa called a friend on her cell phone to say Arvizu would not let her out of the car
Unlike the Dec. 15 incident there is no indication that alcohol played a role in Sunday?s accident, and everyone involved
wore safety restraints. Patterson Fire Marshall Steve Hall said both cars appeared to be totaled in Sunday?s accident.
Despite the fact that Elfers Road and Ward Avenue have contained two fatal accidents in the past month, Hall said there
have been few accidents that have taken place there. Meanwhile, Victoria said Raquel Deoliveira appeared to be
improving as of Tuesday. "We?re just taking it one day at a time," he said of his family. "Everyone is praying ... and
hoping the best for her,"